All things books, all the time

Stop Eating While Reading

Think about it. So you’re sitting there reading, right? And then you decide you need a snack. Most likely you’re not going to prepare a full course meal for this craving you have. So you grab some cookies or a bag of chips or frosted donuts. You grab a snack. But you’re eating with your hands. And then turning pages and holding your book (or eReader) with those same hands. See what I’m talking about?

I may not have the most books of any person, but I do take care of them. The spines are minimally worn. The pages are never dog-eared. The covers are not folded back. And food is never near any of them. So it’s crazy to read another blog post discussing the perfect reading snacks. The perfect reading snack is the snack that is consumed once you’re finished reading. This is a bit like people who eat and stay on their phone. Never mind the fact that that meaningless text conversation or Twitter mention is so important that it absolutely CANNOT wait until you’re finished eating, but what is appealing about transferring food from your fingers to your phone or book? I’m don’t see it.

It’s actually really bad for your body to eat while reading/watching TV/surfing the internet/etc. You tend to ignore your body’s signals to tell you that you’re full, and you end up over-indulging in snacks. So, beyond the sticky factor, there are health reasons to avoid eating while reading, too. Now if only I could convince my son of this idea… 9-year-old boy + food + thing = food all over said thing. *facepalm*

I think I knew that. But it’s not something I’m actively thinking about. I can’t really eat and watch anything important, anyway. Just make sure that thing isn’t the dog and that food isn’t peanut butter.

As an author (who at this stage sells very little but still dreams big), if I found one of MY paperbacks in a thrift store, and it’s a battered, abused copy with food smudges on the pages, dog-ears and bent back so much it doesn’t properly close any more… that would totally make my day.

(And I’d probably look at all the dog-ear pages to see where it was they stopped reading to take a break, and be thrilled that they couldn’t even stop reading to eat–I would however, be appalled by strange yellow stains). 😀

😮 I guess you’re right. My cousin reads more than I do, and all his books are totally worn out. The ends are frayed, the pages are dog-eared. The spine of his books are extremely lined and he isn’t at all bothered by it. *internally screaming*

I used to eat while I read, but I couldn’t even tell you what it was that I ate. Hmm… Obviously I paid so little attention to the food and so much attention to the story. As it should be.
I haven’t eaten and read in a while. I have water with me everywhere I go. I’m a wateraholic, and I can’t go more than an hour without water, and since I read for hours at a time, it’s always there at my side. Other than that, food is banned from my reading time.

If you were eating but not paying attention to your food, then I bet you ended up with a number of stained shirts. 😂 Probably didn’t even notice. I always have a bottle of water around somewhere. Sometimes it’s empty, sometimes not. But usually not reading while drinking it.